Throughout its 23-city “Summer for Marriage Tour 2010,” the National Organization For Marriage (NOM) has gone to great lengths to portray itself as a tolerant organization of Christians driven to oppose same-sex marriage by their religion. NOM has argued that its members are in a great “civil rights” struggle against intolerant LGBT counter protesters who have sabotaged its tour and threatened its members. Former NOM President Maggie Gallagher has described her supporters as “very peaceful and prayerful and respectful of the law, because that’s who our people are” while painting LGBT activists as “a real face of hatred.” “It isn’t just ‘we disagree with you, we’re supporting our point of view,” Gallagher quoted the counter protesters as saying, “it’s ‘you’re wrong, you’re haters, you’re bigots.'”

The blog NOM Tour Tracker has worked to expose the thin veil of NOM’s tolerance throughout their tour and has noted that NOM has coached its supporters to focus on the movements message of “love” when speaking with reporters. Yesterday, the blog cross-posted an item by Good As You‘s Jeremy Hooper, which uncovered the homophobic record of pastor Brad Brandon, one of the speaker’s NOM’s rally in Minneapolis. Brandon had previously warned supporters that gays would teach children how to masturbate and compared gays to alcoholics, pedophiles and Hitler:

COMPARES GAYS TO ALCOHOLICS: “If you had an uncle who was a drunk and he was destroying his marriage and he was destroying his life and he was dying from problems that come along with drinking….Would you love him to go up to him and say, ‘oh, it’s okay, what you’re doing is alright?’ ….no you wouldn’t… But yet when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, all of the sudden, we have to keep our mouths shut, and we cannot say anything when it comes to this issue.”

COMPARES GAYS TO ADULTERERS, PEDOPHILES: “On the 17th, the ELCA convenes to vote on whether to allow homosexuals to be clergy. I mean, to me that’s like asking somebody who is living an open adulterous lifestyle to become a pastor. To me, that is like asking a pedophile to become a pastor.”

BELIEVES IN REPARATIVE THERAPY: “We need to preach Christ, the love of Christ, the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Get These homosexuals saved and get them out of this lifestyle.”

Listen:

Ironically, Gallagher has criticized LGBT leaders for failing to condemn the counter protesters’ “disruptive” tactics, but has yet to issue a statement distancing NOM from Brandon’s controversial remarks or the now infamous noose placard that appeared at NOM’s rally in Indianapolis. “I mean, what kind of people do that, first of all, and what kind of movement doesn’t step up and say, ‘No, this isn’t what our movement is about,’” Gallagher asked of the LGBT movement.